30 December, 2014

Kyle's Top Ten Games of 2014

By
Kyle Shimmin

Having spent much of the holidays revisiting my favourite video games of the year, as well as playing some new comers, I've finally managed to wrangle them down to a list of just ten, and rank them in some kind of qualitative order. I am crazy? You tell me!

10 Transistor (PS4)

Transistor is a game with a fantastic soundtrack, it is
moody and tone setting, made all the more memorable by Ashley Barrett’s
stunning vocals. Transistor doesn’t go out of its way to reveal and explain
itself to you, you have to yearn to uncover its secrets, to master it’s combat
and understand the world you traverse. While I wouldn’t call it hard, it
certainly rewards your attention and focus. Mysterious and moody, Transistor is
short but unique experience, which I absolutely endorse checking out.

9 Pokémon Alpha Sapphire (3DS)

There is no denying it, a significant amount of my enjoyment
can be chalked up to nostalgia, Generation III was the Pokémon experience of my
childhood. That said, I really enjoyed the changes and additions made in this
remastering. Aside from looking and sounding great, the Alpha and Omega
releases flesh out the story and added a host of new features; namely the
online suite, Player Search System, as well as Mega Evolutions.

8 Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor (PS4)

In the wake of the mess of Assassin’s Creed Unity, the
triumphs of Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor stand out perhaps more than they did
before. It wasn’t perfect; the story was bland and its cast little better, but
the story I crafted for myself, aided by the innovative Nemesis system more
than made up for it. Rivalries were crafted naturally during Talion’s rise to
dominance over the denizens of Mordor, where in so many other games such
confrontations feel forced and contrived. The impressive movement, combat and
cinematic presentation also played no small part in securing Shadow of Mordor’s
place amongst my favourite games of 2014.

7 Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (Xbox One)

Following the middling showing of 2013’s Call of Duty:
Ghosts, Advanced Warfare returns the series to its place atop the pantheon of
modern first person shooter. The blockbuster single player campaign is one of,
if not, the best in the series, so it’s a shame it ends with the boiler plate, ‘America
saves the day’ resolution, but Kevin Spacey’s stellar performance more than
redeems it. I haven’t been able to play as much of the competitive multiplayer
as I wanted this year, but the increase mobility and opportunities provided by
the exo(skeleton) made what I did play a ton of fun.

You can read about the many ways Advanced Warfare is great
in my review.

6 Titanfall (PC/Xbox One)

Ordering Titanfall at number six, above this year’s Call of
Duty was a difficult decision; both were great and Call of Duty has the more
expansive package with a traditional campaign. However, Titanfall’s gameplay
changes are far more radical than Advanced Warfare’s; the leaping,
wall-running, and sliding turns Titanfall into something else entirely. Mix
that with the explosive power of the Titan mechs and you have a reliable
formula for awesome spontaneous moments.

5 Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (PS4)

Ground Zeroes is a bite-sized Metal Gear Solid experience,
just a couple of hours of campaign and a

few small challenge scenarios, but it
was enough to hook me on the scent of Metal Gear. Ground Zeroes wasn’t as weird
as some may have liked, and more chilling than some were prepared for. But
thematically it cemented my interest, and let’s not sell the game short; the
gameplay is fantastic, whether lighting up the camp with weapons fire or
sneaking into the interrogation room, its surprisingly fun to play and looks
stunning.

4 The Last of Us Remastered (PS4)

Admittedly, this was my first time with The Last of Us, I
didn’t pick it up at the time of its original release on the PlayStation 3. I
believe that The Last of Us is one of the best told stories in videogames;
every aspect of its gameplay, presentation and dialogue, acts in service of
delivering its harrowing narrative. On
the PlayStation 3, The Last of Us was a visually impressive game, but I don’t
feel the technical upgrades of the Remastered PlayStation 4 edition should be
over looked, it contributes pretty significantly to selling the world and the
characters, and man does it sell them.

For a deeper look at how effectively The Last Of Us conveys
its emotional narrative, take a look at our review.

3 Bayonetta 2 (Wii U)

Bayonetta 2 was a blast from beginning to end, the action is
tight with a greater emphases on well-timed dodging, rather the simply combos
or button mashing. Bayonetta 2 is the undisputed master of colossal scale and
escalation; one minute the stylish witch could be chasing a light dragon
through the eye of a whirlpool as it throws church spires at you, in the next
she might summon hair-daemons to drag her enemies into the pits of the inferno.

To find out why Bayonetta 2 is one of the best games of the
year check out our full review.

2 Hyrule Warriors (Wii U)

Hyrule Warriors is a Dynasty Warriors game, set in The
Legend of Zelda universe, it fulfilled perfectly what I suspect was it’s goal;
to attract players from one camp, into the other. This was my first experience
with the Zelda series, while Hyrule Warriors isn’t a classic role playing game,
it does introduce concepts such as, item use and huge enemy bosses with
weaknesses and states, which meshed surprisingly well with the Warriors’ hack
and slash gameplay. There were a lot of really good Warriors games released
this year, but Hyrule is the one I keep coming back to.

Find out more about how Hyrule Warriors pulls off its
merging of two quite different series’ in our review.

1 Dragon Age Inquisition (Xbox One)

Dragon Age Inquisition is a videogame of a scale rarely
achieved by entire series, let alone single games. The world of Dragon Age has
never been so beautiful or expansive, yet it maintains the Bioware level of
detail and character. You play as the Inquisitor, to some you are heretic,
personally responsible for the Divine's death and the chaos that spawned from
it, to others you are a saviour, an agent of holy Andraste herself. Your true
identity you decide for yourself, beginning with the deep character creation
system, and developing further as you meet and interact with new characters,
and delve into the robust crafting system. You shape the world around you with
your decisions, you can mould the Inquisition into a force for justice or your
divine wrath. Dragon Age Inquisition boasts a huge scale, which is visually
stunning and shocking detailed throughout, but my time with the game - which
remains on going - will forever be defined by the fantastically life-like
characters and writing, brought to life by great voice acting performances.

For my more fully formed opinion on Dragon Age Inquisition,
and reasons why it was not only my Game Of The Year, but also the site’s, check
out my review.